Summer Rain
by Hatsu Yukiya
Summary: On vacation in China with his family, Arthur literally runs into a Chinese girl who seems to dislike him at once. However, there's more to Chun Yan than meets the eye, and Arthur's going to spend more time getting to know her than he expected. IggyChu, fem!China
1. Chapter 1

There are few things more annoying than being poked repeatedly as you're trying to sleep. Especially when the one poking you is your eleven-year-old brother and you've spent the last nine hours on a plane flying to a destination you didn't want to go to. Considering the circumstances, it was amazing that Arthur Kirkland managed to last as long as he did without snapping.

However, everyone has a breaking point.

"Knock that off!" Arthur hissed to his brother Peter, slapping the younger boy's hand away. "What do you want?"

Peter's lower lip jutted in a pathetic pout. "I'm bored. When are we going to be there?"

Arthur sighed and checked his watch. "We should be landing soon. Now will you _please _stop with the poking?"

"Fine." Peter slumped down in his seat, crossing his arms. The child was hard enough to deal with on a regular basis, when he had free reign over his actions and wasn't confined to an airplane seat for hour on end. Not even five minutes passed before he said, "Are we there yet?"

His older brother groaned and threw up his arms. "Oh bloody hell! For god's sake, how did I get stuck sitting with you?!"

"Mama, Arthur's being mean!" Peter reached forward to the seat in front of them and shook their mother's shoulders. "Make him stop!"

Evelyn Kirkland turned around and gave her sons a disapproving look. "Arthur, be nice. We'll be in Beijing soon, so just hang in there."

Arthur sighed. Typical. As he was older than Peter—the boy being eleven while Arthur was seventeen—he was expected to be a perfect role model for his brother. As such, every misdemeanor of Peter's was blamed on him setting a bad example. Peter got away with anything. Not that Arthur wanted to do anything that would get him in serious trouble, but if he did, there was no way he would get off scot-free the way Peter did.

He leaned back in his seat and stared out the window. When their parents announced that they would be going on a month-long trip that summer after school got out, he had expected to be going to America to visit close friends of the family, the Jones'. They were of no relation to the very British Kirklands, but Arthur's father had gone to school with Mr. Jones and they considered each other family. Arthur had been pushed together with Mr. Jones' children, twins Alfred and Amelia and adopted son Matthew, every get-together since they were born. Well, being with Matthew wasn't so bad, but Alfred and Amelia drove everyone they came into contact with up the wall.

The Kirkland family was very affluent, as Arthur's father Franklin was the head of a prominent insurance agency in London, so a month-long trip was nothing really strange. But those trips were usually taken to France or America; therefore it was quite a surprise when Franklin and Evelyn told their sons to begin packing for Beijing, China, for no apparent reason. As far as Arthur knew, they had no acquaintances or family friends in China. When he prodded his parents, he did discover that there was in fact a business conference for his father's company and a few others, and Franklin had apparently decided that it would be just_ jolly_ to bring his whole family along and stick them in a hotel room while he went to work.

Evelyn didn't share the same cynicism towards the trip as Arthur did. She insisted that there would be plenty in Beijing for them to do while their father was busy, and had mapped out the whole city and circled prime tourist areas in red marker. The woman was studying that map now, squinting through her reading glasses as she panned out a month's worth of activity.

And Arthur had wanted to have a peaceful summer.

Finally, after hours of flying across the continent, they were about to touch down in China's grand capitol city. Arthur was going to relish the feeling of stretching his legs once they were on the ground, especially since Peter wouldn't have the opportunity to kick his ankles every thirty seconds.

The plane descended through the grey clouds that hung over the city and within twenty minutes, the Kirkland family was picking up their luggage at the baggage claim. Peter nearly began bawling when it looked like his bags weren't showing up, and Arthur needed to shush him loudly to avoid drawing attention. Seriously, his brother was eleven! He shouldn't be so...

_Deep breaths,_ he told himself, _if you rage at Peter, your parents will rage at you._

He remained silent all during the taxi ride through the city, tuning out his father making small talk with the driver and his mother excitedly pointing out landmarks to Peter, who sat on her lap like a toddler. Rolling his eyes, Arthur stared aimlessly out the window and spaced out so much, he didn't realize that the taxi had stopped at their hotel until Evelyn shook his shoulder.

"Come on, Arthur, we're here. Let's go up to our room."

Checking in took longer than it should have, as the Chinese woman at the desk barely spoke any English and another worker had to be brought in to help. Once they cleared that challenge, however, the rest of the journey upstairs was a breeze. The signs were all in Mandarin, but had handy little footnotes in English for foreign visitors. Arthur couldn't imagine what it would be like coming to China and not speaking either Chinese or English, and felt a sudden rush of appreciation for his native language.

The hotel room was massive, more like an apartment than anything else. There was a spacious bathroom, kitchen, and a living room with a large window and balcony that overlooked the city. Despite its size, though, there were only two bedrooms, which meant that Arthur would have to share with Peter. The teenager briefly considered asking if he could sleep on the sofa, but didn't want to get into the look-after-your-brother lecture that his parents would surely give him. Thus, he gave in quickly, and didn't argue when Peter claimed the bed closest to the window. At least his bed would be closer to the door, so he could make a quick escape when he needed to.

Franklin immediately had to leave for a meeting after they got settled in, and Evelyn lay down to take a nap after asking the boys if they could find a way to entertain themselves. Both said yes, and left her to her rest in the other bedroom. The room was stiflingly quiet for about ten minutes before Arthur resolved to leave and get some air.

"Hey, where are you going?" Peter asked, looking up from the book he was reading while draped upside down over the sofa.

"I'm just taking a walk," Arthur told him, grabbing a sweater even though it was late June. The sky was grey and threatened to rain, so it was best to be prepared just in case the weather decided to let loose.

"You jerk, you're leaving me on my own?!" Peter flopped off the sofa and straightened up, glaring at his older brother.

"Mother's here," Arthur pointed out. "I'm not going far, just around the block. Stay put until I get back."

Peter looked ready to demand that he be allowed to accompany him, but Arthur slipped out the door and closed it before the boy could form his mouth around the words.

**A/N:**

**New story! And it's IggyChu! Or at least it will be.**

**Right, names.**

**Arthur- England**

**Peter- Sealand**

**Alfred- America**

**Amelia- fem!America (they won't show up)**

**Matthew- Canada**

**And next chapter,**

**Chun Yan- fem!China**

**Hong- Hong Kong**

**Mei- Taiwan**

**And that's everyone important. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur took a deep breath and inhaled the cool air of the city, pulling on his sweater as he did so. It was colder than he thought it would be. Once that was done, he looked up and down the street outside the hotel, wondering which direction he could go in. he supposed it didn't really matter, as he would be going right back to the hotel soon, so he picked a random direction and headed down the sidewalk, taking in the scenery. It was an urban area right in the center of Beijing, so naturally there was a great deal of people around. The scene could nearly be called chaotic, what with the closely packed bodies and deafening sounds of traffic.

He walked a ways, looking at the signs covered in Chinese characters and trying to guess what they said. Arthur was certain he was dead wrong on most of them, but hey, it was a way to work his brain and distract himself. Hm, he hadn't wanted to come, but he did have to admit that Beijing was an interesting city. Maybe this month wouldn't be so bad. Maybe if he walked around some more, he would find nice places to show his mother and Peter.

There was a nice marketplace nearby, he noticed, filled with street vendors and small shops. It looked small and local, and a hundred percent Chinese. Meaning, not being blatant propaganda to reel in naïve tourists named Evelyn Kirkland. Alright, maybe Arthur should have a little more faith in his mother, but he'd been on too many trips with her to be fully confident.

Though Arthur realized a moment that he didn't have any right to criticize his mother when he looked up and realized he was totally lost.

A few raindrops began to fall from the sky then.

_ Bloody fantastic._

Well, the smart thing to do would be to go back the way he came. He hadn't walked very far, and hadn't taken many turns. Arthur was certain that he would be able to get back to the hotel without a great deal of sweat.

He was wrong. So wrong. After trying to calmly retrace his steps, Arthur came to the conclusion that there was no way he would be able to find his way back. Well, this was great. He was lost in a foreign city, didn't speak the language, and...He checked his pocket, yep, no cell phone. Arthur took a few deep breaths and tried to suppress the rising sense of panic. All he had to do was ask for directions. Surely someone had to know the way.

Well, that plan failed when it turned out people weren't in a big hurry to point a frazzled British teenager in the right direction. Arthur resisted the urge to slap his hand against his forehead. He should have expected this. It was a big city, after all, and it had been foolish to think it would be any different from places like London or New York. Everybody was too busy with their own lives to get involved in anyone else's.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" Arthur asked himself. He could call a cab, but he had no money...maybe if he had the driver take him to the hotel, and then asked him to wait while he ran upstairs to grab some cash? No, taxi drivers didn't work like that. It seemed like Arthur's only option was to wander around aimlessly until he found the damn place. He sighed heavily. _Better get started._

He took a few rapid steps forward and promptly collided with something small yet solid, sending both himself and whatever he had run into tumbling to the ground. From the way it felt, the obstacle had been travelling at a high speed as well. They seemed to have been carrying groceries as well, as evidenced by the food items scattering the sidewalk that hadn't been there before. Thankfully at this point, the crowd in the sidewalk was thinning so Arthur had less of a chance of being trampled.

The Brit groaned in pain, not appreciating the feeling of the hard concrete under his body. The other person seemed to be doing the same, and both eased themselves into a sitting position. Raising his head, Arthur found himself staring into the wide amber eyes of a very pretty Chinese girl. Her dark brown hair was pulled into two buns on the side of her head, and her face was partly shielded by a black cap that was nestled snugly between the buns. The sleeves of her dark grey hoodie were long enough to cover her hands, and they fell nearly to her thin knees.

Said girl was looking at him with equal parts curiosity and irritation, before snapping out of it and beginning to scoop her groceries into her arms. Arthur noticed that her bags had split in the collision, and with a guilty conscious began helping her gather them.

"Here, let me—"

"I have it, aru. Leave me alone." Her sharp tone gave Arthur pause, before something else caught his attention.

"_Aru?_ What is that?"

She immediately looked offended, and Arthur mentally punched himself in the face. "I-I didn't mean—"

"It's the way I speak, aru," she interrupted curtly, snatching a now-cracked bottle of soy sauce out of his hands. Her arms were rather full, and without thinking Arthur pulled off his sweater and wrapped it around her bundle of supplies. The girl stiffened.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping," Arthur replied firmly, tying the sleeves of the sweater around the mass of food items. "Thank me later. And hey, in return, could you tell me how to get to the Zhōngguó Hotel? I'm a bit..."

The girl tightened her arms around her groceries. "Lost? Down the block and to the right on Yao street, aru. Big building." Her quiet voice hardened. "Typical westerner, aru."

"What?" Well that was a little uncalled for. "Uh, alright." But there was no point getting into an argument with a complete stranger.

The girl eyed him with suspicion, before nodding briefly and taking off running down the street, weaving expertly in between people as she dashed out of sight.

Arthur stood breathless, completely floored. By what, he wasn't sure, but... "Wow."

**xXx**

Upon entering her apartment building, it took Chun Yan approximately twelve seconds to realize she still had the stupid foreigner's sweater. She groaned inwardly and battled with the urge to toss the ball of beige fluff out the window, winning due to the knowledge that she would have to give it back to the weird blonde boy. How, though? It wasn't like she knew his name.

A quick inspection of the sweater after she put the groceries away turned up results. A name was penned onto the tag inside, and after a few seconds deciphering the English letters Chun Yan saw that the owner's name was one Arthur Kirkland. She tried saying the name out loud, but twisted her tongue on the syllables. English was not a language she was good with. Add the name to the immediate list of things she didn't like about him. He had collided with her, spilling the groceries she'd used all her pocket money to buy (though Chun Yan was not above admitting that it was partially her fault) and then insulted her way of speaking!

She grit her teeth and tossed the sweater onto the small kitchen table. She could track the boy down tomorrow; he had said he was staying in the Zhōngguó Hotel, so it wouldn't be hard to go there in the morning and ask which room Kirkland was in.

Exhausted from the day, and nursing a slight headache from smacking her head into Arthur's, Chun Yan collapsed onto the sofa and closed her eyes, covering them with her arm to block the painful fluorescent lights of the apartment. The place was small, with a modest living room and a tiny conjoined kitchen that broke off into a narrow hallway. The hallway led to the bathroom, which only had enough room for a shower rather than bathtub, and the three bedrooms. One was occupied by Chun Yan's mother, who might or might not be home, one held her fourteen-year-old brother Hong, who was certainly hiding out in there right now, and the last she shared with thirteen-year-old Mei.

Almost on cue, the door to the shared room cracked open and Mei poked her head through, brushing a lock of her dark, wavy hair behind her ear. "Jiejie? Are you home?"

"Yes." Chun Yan rubbed her eyes and sat up with a soft moan. "Are we here alone?"

Mei nodded. "Mama isn't here. I think she might have picked up a double shift at work."

Chun Yan sighed out her nose and fell backwards onto the ratty pillow she had been lying on. "Aiyah...she'll be in an even worse mood than usual because of that."

"Did you get...?"

"I did, don't worry. Just stay in our room tonight and don't come out. I'll deal with it."

Mei made a small sound in her throat before hesitantly nodding again. "Jiejie, I'm sorry you always have to do this. It's not fair."

Chun Yan looked to her sister and forced a reassuring smile. "What are you apologizing for? You haven't done anything wrong." Mei began to protest, but the older girl cut her off. "I'm the oldest. It's my job to take care of you and Hong, Meimei." She stretched a bit. "Things are going to get better soon, I promise. Once Mama is in the clear at her job, we won't have to deal with all..." She gestured to the groceries on the table, where a few alcohol bottles were visible. "Well, all this."

Mei locked her fingers together nervously. "Mama hasn't been 'in the clear' for two years..."

"Meimei. That's enough." Chun Yan looked at her sister sternly. "We just have to have more faith, alright? Things are going to get better."

She looked up at the bright white ceiling, silently counting the cracks in the paint. "Everything will get better. Trust me."

**A/N:**

** New chapter! Thanks to A.R.C. Fangirl OwOv for helping me out with names and things, you are a lifesaver. Arcie (yes that is what I am calling you, it is easier than A.R.C. Fangirl OwOv) writes the best IggyChu stories out there, I swear. I highly suggest going to check them out. Hell, even if you don't support IggyChu her stories are great. Yay for being awesome, Arcie! **

_**Jiejie**_**- Big sister**

_**Meimei**_**- Little sister. Mei, Meimei, see what I did there?**

**Thanks for reading and please review! **


	3. Chapter 3

Chun Yan woke up late the next morning, tired out from the previous night. From the way it sounded, her mother wasn't home anymore and Hong was still asleep. She looked across the room to where Mei was curled up on her bed, blissfully unconscious, and smiled a bit. The smile turned into a grimace as she remembered what she had to do that day.

Arthur Kirkland's sweater was still lying on the table where she had thrown it the previous day. Thankfully, her mother hadn't noticed it and asked questions. The woman hated it when her children got involved with outsiders, and definitely would not be happy if she learned the story of how the sweater came to be in her daughter's possession. That was why Chun Yan had to return it right away.

Her fists clenched at the thought of her mother. Why couldn't she just listen, and not get angry at the smallest things? Since things had begun going badly at her job two years ago, Jinghua Wang had been delving further and further into alcoholism from the stress of having three children and never enough money, as well as the potential prospect of losing her job. She worked extra hours every day, and at night would come home furious at no one and everyone, if she even came home at all. Jinghua was known for spending some nights at the bar and crashing in a cheap motel.

At seventeen years old, Chun Yan was the oldest in the family and usually the one under the most pressure. Jinghua expected her to do the shopping and cooking, along with taking care of the house. If the girl neglected any of her duties, she would face her mother's tirade. Even if she wasn't faced with the common event of getting kicked out by her mother, Chun Yan would still do all these things. She needed to take care of Hong and Mei. However, she couldn't do everything perfectly, and sometimes did find herself needing to find a place to spend the night, or at least wait a few hours until it was safe to go back home. But Chun Yan's first priority was protecting her brother and sister, and if she could keep them out of Jinghua's warpath, then everything was alright to her.

If she could just keep her siblings safe, then she could take whatever her mother dished out.

And so, this was why she was leaving the apartment at an ungodly hour in the freezing morning, holding a stupid foreigner's sweater under her arm, heading to his hotel to return it to him. Though Chun Yan knew it wasn't his fault, the small, childish part of her wanted to hit Arthur for putting her and her family in this situation. Even the smallest things could trigger Jinghua's temper.

Chun Yan sighed, exasperated, as she walked the few blocks from her family's apartment building to the Zhōngguó Hotel. Jeez, who were the Kirklands? Zhōngguó was really high class, and only the richest of people could afford to stay there. When she and her siblings were little, Chun Yan liked to pretend that the whole place was a castle rather than a hotel, and that royalty of some sort must live there. She absently looked down at the sweater in her hand. It looked too cheap for a rich guy.

Well, cheap or not, she had to return it. Chun Yan entered the hotel and walked up to the counter. The woman working there was clearly relieved that she spoke Chinese rather than English, and Chun Yan sympathized. English wasn't her best subject either.

"Ah, which room is..." She checked the name on the tag, "Kirkland in? I have something I need to drop off."

It took the worker a moment, but she was able to input the name into the sleek computer on the counter. "Room 1527," she answered, "That's on the twenty-fourth floor. If you want, I can call him and ask him to come down."

"No, thank you." If she had to wait for him, Chun Yan was certain she would lose her nerve and leave. No, she had to do it herself.

She took the escalator up to the proper floor and found the room, hesitating before knocking softly. To her surprise, a small boy with big blue eyes opened the door.

"Who're you?" he asked, his accent matching the one she'd heard in Arthur's voice the previous day. Was this boy his brother?

"Is Arthur Kirkland here?" Chun Yan asked softly, pulling her cap further over her eyes. The boy's eyes widened in surprise.

"How come you need him?"

"I have something of his, aru."

The boy shrugged. "Okay." He leaned back into the room and called, "Hey jerk! There's this girl here to wants to talk to you."

"I told you not to call me that, and who—"Arthur came into view and immediately froze when he caught sight of Chun Yan. "Oh. It's you."

"Yes, I'm not happy about it either, aru," she responded coldly. She tossed his sweater into the room, barely slowly enough for Arthur to see it coming and catch it. "That's all, so I'll be leaving."

"Wait!" To her surprise, Arthur dropped the sweater and lunged forward, pushing his brother out of the way to clear a path into the hall. "Uh, let me walk you home."

Chun Yan raised her eyebrows. For a westerner, he sure was bold. "Won't you get lost again?"

"Ah..." Arthur seemed at a loss for words. "Well, uh, walking around will help me get my bearings, and all that."

"Jerk's got a girlfriend!" the little boy sang, a smirk on his face.

"Shut up, Peter!" Arthur snapped, shoving the boy further into the room and closing the door. It was silent in the hallway, save for Peter pounding his fists into the door. "I'm sorry about that."

"Go back inside, aru," Chun Yan sighed, not wanting to be around him a moment longer. "I don't need you to walk with me."

Arthur frowned. "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you yesterday, but I didn't mean to. Can we get past that?"

"We can, because I don't want to talk to you."

"Seriously, why do you dislike me so much? I never did anything."

Chun Yan clenched her fists. He had caused her an unnecessary amount of stress, to begin with. "Stop bothering me!" _Just go away!_

He grabbed her elbow as she took a step forward, and Chun Yan almost snapped just then. She jerked her arm out of his grasp. "Leave me alone! I don't want to see you, aru!" Her outburst visibly shocked Arthur, and once she started talking she couldn't stop. "I hate people like you. Why can't you just mind your own business? I'm leaving, aru." She took advantage of the boy's stunned reaction and took off hastily down the hall.

Before she turned the corner to the elevators, she heard Arthur say,

"Bloody hell, I don't even know your name."

**A/N:**

**Well, they are certainly not friends, but it'll get better. It's just that Chun Yan has some problems to work out...**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Not even two days in China, and Arthur had already made someone hate him. He doubted many people had a record like that. The thought made him feel increasingly depressed and put him in a bad mood, and Peter's pestering about "Who the pretty girl was!" earned the little boy a flick to the forehead. Really though, how was that girl? She acted all superior, but there had to be a reason she was angry all the time, right? She couldn't be all bad, considering she had taken the time to bring Arthur's sweater back, though she had been clearly unhappy about it.

In his mind, Arthur called her Hat Girl, for the one she was wearing every time he saw her. Maybe she would be wearing it the next time he saw her, too. Wait, wait. Arthur mentally slapped himself. He wasn't going to see her again, and if he did, she would probably yell and run away like she usually did. It was best to put Hat Girl out of his mind, and thinking about her more would frustrate the British boy far more than he needed.

So why couldn't he stop thinking about her?

Her small form, her shiny dark hair and fierce amber eyes, the pretty face that seemed permanently stuck into an irritated scowl... Arthur admired the features, but at the same time, every image that rose into his mind made him want to rant. He wanted to yell at her, ask her what her deal was, and why she disliked him so much. It was a complicated mix of emotions. And he really wanted to see her again.

At the moment, Peter was in his mother's bedroom, and the two were napping together. Arthur had rolled his eyes at his brother's antics, but was grateful for the opportunity to get out of the hotel room. A few rays of sunlight were breaking their way through the dismal grey clouds, and he figured he'd take a walk. One could have said that he fancied the idea of getting lost and running into a certain someone again, and Arthur wouldn't say if the thought was right or wrong, but if the shoe fits...

That's how he found himself out on the street again, making sure he knew exactly where the hotel was before taking off like a lunatic again. He recalled where some of the places he had seen the other day were, and decided it might be nice to check out the Oriental market he'd passed. It was a few blocks away from the hotel, so it wasn't far, and he could stay within view of the place as he wandered up and down the stalls.

It was fascinating, really, seeing how the people made their living. There were all sorts of stalls in the marketplace, selling things from baskets to various types of vegetables. Arthur didn't hear one word of English in the whole place, and for the most part it was a sea of dark-haired locals. It was strange that there were no tourists around; they were usually attracted to this sort of thing. Maybe it was so small and low-key that nobody really heard about it.

At the end of the cramped street the market was set on, Arthur noticed a booth selling various types of flowers. Most of them were kinds he couldn't identify, but they had a small bunch of vibrant red roses. Arthur didn't know if they were even in season, but he did remember Evelyn mentioning that she was slightly homesick despite having been in China for a mere three days thus far. It would be nice of him to get his mother one, show her some British spirit.

"E-Excuse me," Arthur said hesitantly, having no idea if the vendor even spoke English, "Could I buy one of your roses?"

The vendor did speak some English, enough to understand what it was the teenager wanted. It was a bit of a slow process, but Arthur managed pull the right amount of money—he'd remembered to bring some this time—and hand it over, leaving holding his purchase.

_Hm, where now_? He could head back to the hotel, but there wouldn't be anything to do there. Arthur liked walking around, but didn't want to risk getting lost again.

Wait... was that a familiar figure he saw, further up the street? Without thinking, Arthur took off in that direction, dodging pedestrians as he barreled down the sidewalk with no idea of where he was going or even what he was _doing;_ all he knew what that he wanted to make things right.

However, if it wasn't Hat Girl he was chasing after, Arthur would consider himself a royal embarrassment.

The figure turned a corner with him in quick pursuit, and it occurred to Arthur that what he was doing was maybe a little stalkerish, but at the moment he didn't care. He lunged forward one final time and caught the person by the elbow, stopping them in their tracks.

To his immense relief, Hat Girl's golden eyes turned to stare incredulously into his green ones.

Her face immediately darkened. "You again, aru?! I told you—"

Arthur, who was doubled over panting, wordlessly handed her the rose in his hand.

"...Huh?"

"F-for...whatever I did to make you...hate me..." Arthur coughed into his hand and straightened up, visibly embarrassed. What the hell had he just done?

The girl's eyes widened and she delicately took the rose from him, examining its perfect petals with amazement. "Did you...come running after me?"

He felt his face burning, and it had nothing to do with the exercise. "Well...maybe." Arthur immediately went on the defensive. "I just saw someone who looked like you, that's all! All I wanted was to clear things up because I don't want to have any bad feelings with a random girl, for some reason, and—"

"Chun Yan."

"...eh?" Arthur spluttered to a halt, and she looked slightly annoyed again.

"That's my name, aru. I'm Chun Yan." She straightened her hat and held out her right hand. "No bad feelings, you said."

"...Alright?" Arthur hesitantly took her hand, noticing how it fit perfectly into his own. "I'm Arthur Kirkland. It's nice to meet you."

Chun Yan examined him curiously. "Wang Chun Yan is my name. Chun Yan Wang in English, I suppose." She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Are you lost again, aru?"

Feeling his pride as a man slip away, Arthur insisted, "Of course not! I came from..." Looking around, Arthur realized that while he was running, he'd had no idea where he had ended up.

"Right," Chun Yan said sardonically. "I suppose it's time for me to return the favor from the other day, aru. Follow me."

Arthur figured it was best if he did what she told him.

**A/N:**

**Woo! On an actual-name basis now! Though Chun Yan probably still doesn't want him to butt into her business.**

**Thanks for reading and please review**!


	5. Chapter 5

As much as his pride as a man suffered, Arthur figured that it really was in his best interest to let Chun Yan lead him around like a lost child. Which, he supposed, was kind of what he was at the moment. He sighed inwardly as he followed the small girl through the streets, making sure to memorize landmarks so this absolutely would not happen again. It would be just the Brit's luck to get lost for good and end up mugged or something of the sort.

He heard Chun Yan say something from ahead of him, but Arthur had spaced out too much to hear properly. "Excuse me? What was that?"

The girl turned and gave him a long-suffering look. "I asked if you wanted food, aru. Though I'm broke so you'll have to pay."

"What kind of person asks someone to eat and then doesn't pay for it themselves?"

"The poor kind of person, aru."

Their eyes locked in a stony stare, until Arthur turned red and looked away. Truth be told, he would have paid anyway, being the self-proclaimed gentleman that he was. The reason for his nitpicking was just that Chun Yan was so straightforward about everything; it threw him off. None of the other girls he knew came anywhere close.

"Fine," he said, "I'm sure I have enough money. Where do you suggest?"

He was not expecting Chun Yan's reaction.

"Yayyy, free food, aru!" She jumped ecstatically and fist-pumped the air, looking thrilled. "I didn't think I would convince you, aru!"

Stunned into silence, Arthur just watched as she skipped up to him and grabbed his arm. "Let's go, aru! I know a good place! You will pay, we will both eat, and we will both be happy, aru!"

"You...are suddenly very different," Arthur stammered, flabbergasted. "Is whatever we're about to eat really that good?"

Chun Yan frowned seriously. "Food is the most important thing. Besides, this way I can take some home, aru. Hong and Mei will like that!"

"Hong and Mei?"

The Chinese girl froze and slapped her hands over her mouth, like she had been caught doing something naughty. Arthur was confused; was the slip-up really that bad?

Chun Yan's happy demeanor vanished altogether, and in a split second she was back to her regular self. "They're my siblings, aru. Come on, hurry up. I don't want the place to close before we get there because a stupid foreigner was taking forever."

Arthur sighed, picking up his pace. And they were back to square one, just when he thought something had changed in their odd excuse for a relationship.

_Relationship._ Was that what he was calling it now?

"Fine, lead the way," he said finally, waving Chun Yan ahead. She gave him a strange look and took the lead, crossing her arms as she went. She led him to another narrow street, similar to the one with the marketplace, and almost immediately upon entering the Chinese girl's mood spiked upwards once more.

"Aiyah, I haven't been here in so long!" She clasped her hands together and Arthur swore he thought she was about to cry. Chun Yan skipped forward, spinning once in a circle before taking off down the street.

"H-Hey, wait up!" Arthur called out, hurrying after her. He caught up with her at a vendor's cart, noticing her bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Can you get me a few of those, aru?" she asked him, pointing towards the contents of the cart. Arthur leaned in with his eyebrows raised.

"What exactly are they?" They looked like a strange kind of pancake thing, rolled like a cinnamon bun and sprinkled with something green.

"You Xuan," Chun Yan answered dreamily, eyes shining.

"And...that?"

"That's a starfish, aru. I want some of those too!"

Arthur stared at her. "You eat starfish?"

She rolled her eyes. "I haven't in a while. And they're good, aru! Just as good as the weird things you British people eat, I suppose. I've heard of the blood pudding."

"T-That's...well..." Arthur spluttered to a stop, and then figured it was best to just not argue. "How many do you want?"

"Four of each, aru!" Chun Yan paused, thinking. "And then however many you want."

Arthur muttered under his breath as he pulled out the correct amount of currency. "Are you really going to eat that much?"

Chun Yan snorted. "Didn't I tell you I was going to take some home, aru?"

"...right."

She turned to him with the food, looking happy again. She was much prettier when she smiled, Arthur noted, then shook himself. He should not be thinking thoughts like that about a girl he barely knew. Though...the fact that she still held the rose he'd handed her didn't escape his notice.

"Aren't you going to get any?"

Her voice shook the Brit out of his thoughts. "Ah, no, I'll pass. You enjoy your starfish."

Arthur watched as she placed the other purchases onto a nearby bench, pulled out a starfish, and broke off one of the legs. The meat inside was mushy and a dark shade of green.

He swallowed back a small surge of disgust. "That doesn't even look edible."

Chun Yan stuck her tongue at him, pulling out the meat at the same time. "You just haven't been eating properly, aru."

"Yes, starfish and French rolls doused in linseed oil are the proper health choices."

She threw the empty starfish leg at him and huffily scooped up the other bags. "Fine. I'm ready to go home, aru."

Arthur bowed dramatically. "Lead the way, miss."

Chun Yan scoffed and began walking, though she no longer remained ahead of him like she had been. The two walked side by side up the street, winding through the blocks of the city back to Arthur's hotel, swapping cultural insults along the way. Eventually, they made it back, and stood in front of the ornate sliding doors to the large building.

"I suppose it's goodbye, then," Arthur said, sticking his hand out. Chun Yan eyed him. "...What?"

"You're going to get lost again, aru."

"What?! What's that supposed to mean?"

Hands on her hips, Chun Yan narrowed her amber eyes at him, a small smirk playing on her lips. "You're going to walk around aimlessly again and get lost and I'm going to have to save you, aru."

"That's not true!" Arthur defended hotly, "I made sure to keep track of things this time!"

"Whatever you say~" Chun Yan rolled her eyes. "I think you need someone to lead you around all the time, aru. I guess I'll have to do it."

"No! Wait, what?"

"I'll show you around." The look on her face dared him to argue. "You'll learn to walk around like an adult and I'll keep getting free food, aru."

Arthur didn't even have time to protest as she began to skip away, singing "No backtalk to your teacher, aru, I'll see you tomorrow!"

He stared after her, long after she'd disappeared down the street.

"...bloody hell." Arthur sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair, processing everything.

It was almost like they had managed to become friends.

**A/N:**

**Food=friendship. All of Chun Yan's reservations flew out the window when Arthur bought her the damn starfish. Which actually look good, I wanna try that.**

**Sorry it's late...been lazy...**

**Thanks for reading and, as always, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chun Yan couldn't help but smile as she raced up the street, away from the dumbfounded Arthur. Teasing him was kind of hilarious, she had to admit. The Brit always thought he had everything figured out, so the look on his face when something rocked his perspective of the world made Chun Yan laugh on the inside. A few days before, that quality would have infuriated her, and it certainly had, but now it was endearing Arthur to the Chinese girl.

That and he had bought her food, which was always a good thing.

Her breath rushed out as she chuckled faintly, picking up her pace. It was later than she thought, and she needed to get home and make dinner for Hong and Mei. Chun Yan tightened her grip on the small bags of treats she held. It was always a nice feeling when she was able to get something special for her siblings, whether she swindled it out of a foreigner or not.

Her apartment building came into view, and looking up at the sky, Chun Yan was thankful it wasn't that far from Zhōngguó Hotel, as it was clearly about to rain. The weather recently had been pretty ugly, unusual for summer. Sure enough, just as she stepped inside, it began to sprinkle. Chun Yan sighed and climbed the stairs to her floor. The elevator had been broken for as long as she could remember, and the owner of the building was apparently too lazy and cheap to spend money to get it fixed and running properly.

Chun Yan hesitated at the closed door of her family's apartment. She didn't really want to be home if her mother was, and she wasn't sure if the woman had long work hours today like she usually did, or if Jinghua had gone to a bar or something. It was nearing six in the afternoon; either option had a higher probability than Jinghua actually being home, so Chun Yan decided to take her chances. She pushed the door open and stepped into the apartment.

A quick glance around told her that her mother wasn't inhabiting the small area, as Hong and Mei were sitting at the kitchen table playing checkers rather than hiding out in their rooms. Chun Yan sighed lightly in relief. She didn't have the energy to deal with their mother at the moment. She put on a bright smile and walked into the kitchen.

"Ai! I'm back, you two!"

Mei looked up innocently. "You were gone a while."

"Yes, I know, but look!" Chun Yan raised the bag of food she held, hiding Arthur's rose behind her back.

Hong eyed the bag flatly. "What's in there?" His dark bangs hung in his eyes, and he pushed them away impatiently.

Chun Yan grabbed a large plate from one of the cupboards and overturned the contents of the bag onto it, the starfish and you xuan falling with a clatter. Hong raised his eyebrows and Mei's eyes widened excitedly.

"Where'd you get these, Jiejie? Can we eat them?" Her face had lit up like a lantern and the girl's hands were already inching towards the food.

Chun Yan rolled her eyes playfully. "I got them for you; of course you can eat them."

Hong looked from the food to his older sister suspiciously. "Jiejie, where_ did_ you get these? The money for them, I mean. You didn't like, blackmail someone, did you?" His eyes narrowed at the hand she kept hidden behind her back. "What's that you're holding?"

Chun Yan pretended to look offended. "You! What makes you think I blackmailed anybody? I swindle, certainly, but blackmail is a low I refuse to sink to."

Hong noticed his sister dodged the second question, but decided not to push it. "So you swindled money out of somebody. Who was it?"

She ruffled his hair. "I'm not telling you! It's a secret~" Chun Yan laughed at Hong's beleaguered expression and kissed the top of his head. While resenting being treated like a child, the boy didn't push her away. Something else was on his mind.

Chun Yan smiled at her siblings. "I'm going to our room for a bit, alright? I'll come and make dinner soon, so just eat that until then. Save some for Mama, too." With that, she turned and borderline bolted to the bedroom she shared with Mei.

Hong stared after her. "Was it just me, or..."

Mei swallowed the bite of you xuan she had been chewing. "Jiejie actually seems happy today, don't you think? I wonder what happened."

Her brother nodded. "What was she holding? Did you see?"

"Nope, I saw nothing." Mei just shrugged. "Come on, eat some of this! It's so good..."

Hong relaxed his serious expression. "Alright, I guess so. It's not like it's a big deal."

It was an unspoken agreement between to the two younger Wangs to not question when Chun Yan was happy, and simply enjoy it.

In her bedroom, Chun Yan propped Arthur's rose up against the lamp on the nightstand and examined it properly. It really was pretty, she saw, though it was stupid to think he had bought it for her especially. Roses were expensive, after all. The odds were he'd bought it to give to someone else, likely his mother.

Chun Yan wondered what Arthur's mother might be like. She was probably a very nice woman, considering the way her son behaved. What if he had siblings? The Chinese girl snickered then shuddered at the thought of miniature little Arthur Kirklands running around, having never met Peter.

Why was she thinking about him so much? One day previously she had hated the blonde Brit's very existence, and now here she was, staring at a flower he'd given her. Maybe he hadn't bought it for her, but he had given it to her. After chasing after her for blocks, no less.

Chun Yan flopped back onto her bed, staring contently at the ceiling. "He's not so bad, I suppose. It could be worse. He could be American."

**A/N:**

** Kind of a short chapter, but that's okay, right? It's also been like a whole nine days since I updated so...**

** Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows guys! It really means a lot to me :D Please keep doing so!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Arthur, you're finally back. Where have you been?" Evelyn's green eyes peered tiredly around the corner, gazing at her son as he stepped through the hotel room door.

"Just out." He sighed. "You'll be happy to know I made a friend. I think."

His mother smiled. "Oh, did you? That's wonderful. Who are they?"

"Her name's Chun Yan. She offered to show me around, so when you're feeling better, I can take you to the places we see." Arthur rubbed his eyes. At least, he thought she offered. It was more like she had taken the concept of an offer and shoved it down his throat when he wasn't looking.

Evelyn eyed him curiously. "It's a girl?"

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, nothing." A small smile crossed the woman's face. "Peter's asleep in the sitting room, so when you come in be sure to be quiet. I'm going to go rest for a little while longer, alright?"

"Alright." Arthur sighed. "Feel better soon." For a moment, he felt slightly guilty about giving the rose to Chun Yan rather than his mother, like he had originally planned. He'd have to find something to make it up to her. Once Chun Yan showed him around a bit more, he'd take his mother and brother out for some sightseeing while their father was working.

Evelyn ruffled her son's hair, much to his chagrin, and returned to the bedroom. Arthur attempted to fix it after she was gone, but as his hair was messy enough all on its own, his attempts didn't do much. He stepped into the sitting room...and found Peter was not sleeping at all.

"I'm onto you, jerk," he said, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I think you're ditching us to go hang out with some girl!"

The boy had hit the nail right on the head, but there was no way Arthur was going to admit that. "You've obviously been hanging around Alfred and Amelia too much when they visit," he replied, rolling his eyes, "if you're getting ideas like that?"

"Hey jerk, how come your face got all red when I mentioned a girl, huh?" Peter crossed his arms stubbornly. "You ashamed of your girlfriend?"

"She is not my girlfriend!" Arthur snapped, and immediately realized his mistake. "N-Not that I have a girlfriend, and don't go getting any weird thoughts!"

The damage had been done, however. A slow, wicked grin was spreading across the eleven-year-old's face. Seeing that, Arthur facepalmed.

**xXx**

Chun Yan could tell Arthur was a little weirded out when she called him directly in his hotel room early the next morning. She was standing outside the hotel, holding her cell phone, actually feeling refreshed that day because she didn't have to stay up late taking care of her mother, who hadn't come home the previous night. Hong and Mei were in a good mood too, it seemed. She'd left them a note telling them she would be out, as both were still asleep when she left.

However, when Arthur answered the phone and asked "How did you get this number?" Chun Yan could already feel herself growing impatient.

"I called the hotel, dimwit," she said flatly. "They connected me to your room, aru."

"...Oh."

"Come down here, okay? I said I was going to show you around and that's what I'm going to do, aru."

"Right now?"

"No, next Monday. Yes, right now, if you please."

"Alright, alright! Bloody hell." She pictured him rolling his eyes, and did the same. "Let me leave a note for my mother and I'll come down. See you in a few."

He hung up the phone then, leaving Chun Yan to wait outside until he came bounding out the revolving doors of the hotel. When he saw her, Arthur's expression looked torn between excitement and irritation. The feeling was mutual.

"You brought money right, aru?" Chun Yan asked immediately.

"Hello to you too," Arthur grumbled. "Yes, I did, because I'd rather not have to have you chew me out over it."

"Hey, we're taking the bus, and like I said, I'm broke. So, we needed cash. Unless you want to walk everywhere, aru?" Chun Yan's eyebrows raised sardonically.

"Fine," he huffed. "We're taking the bus? Where are we going?"

"A place called the Temple of Heaven, aru," she answered. "It's one of the most visited places in the city, and I wanted to start out simple."

"Whatever you say. Lead the way, then."

She obliged, and after riding the bus for at least half an hour, they came to a stop at their destination. After stepping off the vehicle, Arthur took a good look at his location and gaped. "I thought...we were starting simple..."

The Temple of Heaven was decidedly not simple in the slightest. It was a series of buildings, all massive and extraordinarily detailed in their own way, and the place swarmed with people.

"Do you want me to give you a history lesson, aru?" Chun Yan asked, looking amused at his reaction. "We study places like this all the time in school. In fact, this place is so famous I'm surprised you've never heard of it, aru."

"World history has never been a particular interest of mine," Arthur admitted. "But if I'm going to show my family this, I suppose I'll need to know all I can."

"Okay." Chun Yan took a deep breath and gestured grandly to the whole complex. "This is the Temple of Heaven, Tiāntán or Abkai Mukdehun, aru. It is an organization of religious buildings, normally regarded as Taoist, aru, and individually known as the Temple of Sun, the Temple of Earth, and the Temple of Moon. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420, during the reign of the Yongle Emperor..."

They spent the better part of an hour walking around the place, and to his surprise, Arthur was actually very interested in what Chun Yan had to say. The temple was a place very rich in history, and besides that, Chun Yan's voice had the kind of quality that made him want to listen to every single word. When she stopped to catch her breath, he said, "You remember all that from school?"

She turned a little pink. "I love history, aru." Fiddling with her sleeves, she continued, "And in school, we're expected to memorize things. Most kids have very good grades due to our standards here, aru."

"I'm more of a literature person," Arthur commented mildly. "History has never been a priority of mine. But this...this is something else. And the way you tell everything is amazing."

Chun Yan looked surprised at the praise, before immediately going into defensive mode. "I had to simplify a lot of things to make it go through your thick skull, aru! I-It's not really that amazing in context."

Arthur snorted. "Of course."

"W-What are you laughing at, aru?!"

"I'm not laughing!"

"You're grinning!"

"That's because—" he was cut off by the sudden buzzing of a cell phone in their general vicinity. Checking his pocket, Arthur realized it wasn't him, and noticed Chun Yan's deer-caught-in-the-headlights look as she pulled her own phone out of her hoodie. She didn't answer, just looked at the caller ID, horrified, before cancelling the call and shoving it back in her pocket.

"I have to go home now," she said suddenly, forcefully, "grab a cab and tell them to take you to Zhōngguó. Even if they don't speak much English they'll recognize the name, aru."

"Wait, hold on," Arthur interjected, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, aru!" she replied unconvincingly, her voice a few octaves higher. "But I have to go, _now! _I'll talk to you later, aru!"

Not giving Arthur another chance to respond, Chun Yan spun around and took off running, leaving a very confused and worried Brit. She looked over her shoulder as she ran and called back, "I'll call you later!"

"You'd better," Arthur muttered, knowing she couldn't hear.

**xXx**

Chun Yan's heart pounded in her chest as she ran, not even bothering with a bus. She could outrun a bus, it was faster that way. No unnecessary stops. Her phone buzzed in her pocket again, and she silenced it without a second thought. "Mother, leave me alone," she muttered, panting. It took fifteen minutes straight, but her apartment building came into view eventually. She felt a sinking feeling of dread in her stomach as she stopped by the front doors to rest. Chun Yan took a few heavy gulps of air, and ignoring the sharp pain in her side, headed into the building and bounded up the stairs two at a time.

The door to the apartment was locked, but as Chun Yan raised her hand to knock, it flew open and her mother's hand gripped her elbow tightly, pulling her inside.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jinghua said coldly, suppressed fury in her voice.

Chun Yan straightened up, getting her breathing under control before she answered, "Out. I wasn't going to be long."

"You left your brother and sister here alone, and the place is a mess! Honestly, how useless can you be?!" Her mother threw her arms in the air in exasperation.

The teenager clenched her fists. The apartment was impeccable, it always was. And Hong and Mei were old enough to take care of themselves for a little while. She tuned out her mother's rant about how she did all the work and got no support from her ungrateful children, having heard the whole thing already. Several times. In a few minutes, it would all be over. Her mother would leave again or retire to her room with orders to clean the whole place, or go buy something, and the like. It was routine. After that, she would be grounded and forbidden to leave the apartment until Jinghua needed some other meaningless thing bought.

And Chun Yan would usually do it easily, but right now, she couldn't suppress the small twinge of guilt in her chest. Showing Arthur around would have to be put on hold for a little while. She sighed, and wondered why that bothered her so much.

**A/N:**

** Welp. Here. I've got some fantastic drama coming up in future chapters that I'm really excited to write, but until then, I have to sludge through **_**plot.**_** Ugh. I hope this story doesn't get too boring before then.**

** Thank you for reading and please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chun Yan did not call back for two days.

During that time, Arthur figured he might as well take Evelyn and Peter to the Temple of Heaven, and while Peter was bored his mother enjoyed it immensely. As they were leaving, she said, "Your friend really told you a lot, didn't she? I would like to meet her sometime."

Arthur did not like the tone of voice she used, catching the suspicious undercurrents to the otherwise innocent sentence. "Why's that?" His mother was up to something, but he couldn't place his finger on what it might be.

"She's been so helpful," Evelyn replied mildly, folding her hands behind her back. "But you hardly talk about her, you know, you haven't even told us her name." Latched onto the woman's arm, Peter sent his elder brother a smug smirk and mouthed, "Gotcha, jerk." Arthur rolled his eyes at his brother before saying anything else.

"Well, she seems to be busy a lot of time," he said, remembering the way she had bolted a couple days prior. "I can't expect her to be accommodating a hundred percent of the time, Mother."

"You didn't answer the question."

"What question?"

"What's her name?"

Evelyn did not miss seeing the light blush that spread across her son's face as he coughed, trying to cover up embarrassment. "Ch-Chun Yan."

Acting casual, she answered, "That's lovely. I wonder what it means. I hope I get a chance to meet her someday."

Muttering, Arthur said, "I sincerely hope you don't."

**xXx**

"Arthur, would you mind taking Peter out for a bit?"

Arthur looked up as his father spoke. Franklin was rarely with them in the hotel room, being busy with one of his many, many conferences, but at the moment he was preparing to take the boys' mother to lunch. "You want me to what?"

"Take him for a walk or something. He's restless."

"Yeah, it's stuffy in here!" Peter poked his head up from behind the couch, where he was lying for some reason, and stuck his tongue out at his brother. That was becoming an increasingly common sight from Peter, and every time it happened Arthur had to stifle the urge to return the gesture. He refrained, however. He was a gentleman, not an immature child.

The thought crossed his mind that maybe Chun Yan was the kind of person to childishly stick her tongue out at people. However, rather than annoying him, the image was endearing to Arthur and he wondered, hardly for the first time, why she hadn't contacted him yet.

However, he sighed and said, "Yes, I will. Don't worry. Have a good time with Mother, alright?"

Franklin smiled, looking slightly relieved. "Thank you. You're being amazingly helpful to both your mother and I."

His son just nodded. "It's no problem."

**xXx**

"Aiyah, are you two coming or not?" Chun Yan called to her siblings, hands on her hips. She needed to run out for a few things, and Hong and Mei had said they wanted to come, but they were taking forever to get ready so they could go.

"Coming!" Mei called from inside her bedroom, and she stumbled out into the hallway pulling on her shoes. She hopped on one foot and collided with Hong as he stepped out of his own room.

Chun Yan raised her eyebrows but only said, "If we don't hurry, the market will close before we can get there, and we don't have enough to go to the supermarket."

Blushing furiously, Mei straightened up. "Jiejie, remember the other day when you were really happy for no reason? Can you go back to then?"

She clamped her mouth shut when she saw the flat, unfeeling look in her older sister's eyes. "I...sorry..."

"I would be, but unfortunately there's too much to do at the moment," Chun Yan answered dispassionately. "Let's just get done what we need to get done for right now."

"Okay..."

Hong rolled his eyes. This was a typical routine. The three siblings exited the apartment building and headed down the street to the local market, where they usually did their shopping. When they got there, Mei broke off from the group to go look at a blown glass booth, while Hong stuck close to Chun Yan. She smiled a bit, liking the feeling of being accompanied.

Until she saw _him._

_Goddammit Arthur,_ the Chinese girl cursed inwardly, halting suddenly in her tracks when she spotted the Brit examining a certain booth with a small blonde boy who looked to be his brother. _You just have to be everywhere, don't you?_

Hong tugged on his sister's sleeve. "Jiejie? What's the matter?"

She whirled around and grabbed his wrist, pulling him in the opposite direction. "Oh nothing! We're just going to go over here for a bit, yep!"

The boy looked over his shoulder. "Seriously, what's up? It that blonde guy?"

"No!" The word came out far more forcefully than she had intended, and Hong didn't look convinced in the slightest.

And apparently, voices can travel amazingly far in crowded places. Chun Yan realized this when Arthur's head raised and he began looking around like a deer caught in headlights. She couldn't precisely explain _why_ she didn't want to see him so badly, but figured it was due to the fact that he would ask awkward questions. And that was the last thing she wanted.

But, of course, fate has a way of forcing you down the very path you try your absolute best to avoid.

Arthur called her name. Chun Yan froze.

Younger brother in tow, Arthur hurried up the street towards her and Hong, who now looked utterly confused and slightly suspicious. "Jiejie, what's going on?" he asked, careful to speak in low Mandarin.

"Nothing much," she said, trying to force some confidence into her voice. "Trust me."

Arthur reached them then, panting slightly. His younger brother looked up at the two Chinese siblings wide-eyed. Chun Yan glanced around, reminded of Mei. The younger girl was still absorbed in her window shopping, completely oblivious.

"Hey, you..." Arthur began, trailing off when he realized he didn't actually have anything to say. "Er..."

"Do you need something?" Chun Yan sighed, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Who are you?" Peter and Hong asked at the same time.

Chun Yan didn't answer, but Arthur stuck his hand out to the younger boy. "I'm Arthur Kirkland, pleased to meet you. This is my younger brother Peter. Who are you?"

Warily, Hong took the outstretched hand. "Wang Hong. Just Hong. How do you know Jiejie?" He asked the question so matter-of-factly, Chun Yan could have died right there.

Clearing his throat, Arthur answered, "We've run into each other several times and managed to become acquaintances. I imagine she's your sister?"

"I am, and your sister is right here, aru," Chun Yan cut in, face a bright shade of red. "Hong, we need to finish..."

"Sorry to interrupt whatever you were doing, I was just worried..." Arthur looked slightly hurt. "You ran off so suddenly the other day, I was wondering what it was all about."

She pushed her bangs back out of her face. "That is none of your business, aru. I had some things to attend to, is all." She turned to her younger brother. "Hong, I'm going to grab Mei, aru. We're running out of time." Without another word, she turned and hurried down the street to find the younger girl.

Peter let out a low whistle. "Hey jerk, your girlfriend is weird."

_ "She is not my girlfriend!"_

The two suddenly became very aware of Hong's still presence, regarding them in a cool, calculating manner. "Hey, you. Eyebrows."

Arthur spluttered. "W-What?!"

Hong crossed his arms casually. "You're the one."

"...I can't say I follow."

"Jiejie came home really happy the other day," he explained, keeping his words to the bare minimum. "She wouldn't say why, but I understand now. You're the one who made her happy."

Arthur blushed and Peter looked ready to begin laughing once more. "You have the wrong bloody idea! I don't do anything like that on purpose!"

Hong ignored him. "Jiejie's hardly happy at all. Almost never. Even if she says rude things, don't stop. Keep making her happy, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, Hong too turned to join his sisters, walking into the crowd and disappearing without a trace.

** A/N:**

** What am I doing.**

** I'm tired, fuck this, I'm going to bed.**

** Thank you for reading and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

"I knew you had a girlfriend."

"Shut up."

"She's really pretty."

"She is not my girlfriend!"

"But you admit she's pretty?"

Arthur groaned dramatically and threw his arms into the air, sharp green eyes glaring down at Peter furiously. "You need to shut your bloody mouth before I sock your teeth out!"

Peter just snickered. "Say what you want, jerk! I know the truth~ Hey, have you got to second base yet?" He folded his hands behind his back and rocked innocently on his heels.

His older brother spluttered indignantly. "F-firs—Peter Kirkland, you are eleven! You should not be using language like that!"

"Hm," Peter frowned, pondering, ignoring Arthur's scolding. Using his eloquent, picked-up-from-visiting-Americans vocabulary, he replied with, "Still at the batter's mound then, huh?"

"_Shut up!"_

**xXx**

"So who was that, Jiejie?" Hong asked casually as he and his sisters walked down the street towards the supermarket. Chun Yan had stormed off away from the farmer's market so quickly he and Mei had had no choice but to follow her. Their older sister's face was bright red and her hands were clenched at her side.

"None of your business," she replied shortly, not even sparing a glance for her brother and keeping her burning amber eyes on the path ahead.

"Alright," Hong just shrugged in response. "I was just curious about the boy you're spending time with, is all."

"Ehhhh?" Mei exclaimed, eyes lighting up, "Jiejie's spending time with a boy? Hong, you never tell me anything!"

"You never ask, and you found out just now, didn't you?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"Aaagh!" Chun Yan covered her flaming face with her hands. "Both of you, stop talking about it! It's none of your business!"

Hong and Mei exchanged a knowing smirk. This was so typical.

**xXx**

It was another three days before Chun Yan worked up the courage to call Arthur again. Those three days were filled with constant ribbing from both the teens' siblings, to Arthur's irritation and Chun Yan's mortification. Eventually, the Chinese girl figured that she had to get away from them and couldn't let the situation hang any longer. Thankfully, Jinghua hadn't been home for the past couple days. This wasn't anything unusual, so Chun Yan didn't think anything of it and instead decided to take advantage of the free time it allotted her.

She stood holding her cell phone, listening to the ring on the opposite line with bated breath. Her heart skipped a beat (she wasn't sure why) when a voice answered and said, "Hullo?"

"Ah, hello, aru," she replied, "Is this Arthur, aru?"

"...Heh. No. This is Peter. Is this my bro's girlfriend?"

Chun Yan went numb. "N-No, of course not! Why would you even—"

Peter began to reply, but his voice was suddenly cut off by somebody on the other line. There was a muffled thunk, some whining and mild swearing, and then Arthur's voice took over.

"Sorry about that," he sighed. "Who is this?"

"Ah... Chun Yan."

Arthur audibly spluttered. "I-It's...er... I wasn't expecting..."

"Your brother is amusing, aru," Chun Yan cut in swiftly, trying to salvage the conversation. Taking note of her attempt, the British teen cleared his throat.

"Yes, well. He can be fairly aggravating at times—be quiet, Peter, you know it's true..."

Peter could be heard complaining on the other line, and Chun Yan smiled despite herself. They were definitely related.

"So what did you want?" Arthur returned to the conversation, having forced his younger brother out of the room. "I really was not expecting a call from you."

The girl took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. "Would you like to go for a walk with me?"

"A walk?"

"Yes. Just a walk, aru."

There was a beat of dead silence.

"...Hello, aru?"

"I'll be downstairs in five minutes."

**A/N:**

**Can we say shortest chapter ever? But I've been so focused on Rise of the Guardians lately that I haven't really updated anything else. Sorry guys. Next chapter will be better!**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

"Let's play Twenty Questions."

Chun Yan slurped up a noodle and glanced up at the sound of Arthur's voice. The two of them had been eating quietly the past few minutes, having met up half an hour prior and realizing that neither of them had eaten that day. Naturally, Chun Yan made Arthur pay, but he complained less about it then she had expected.

She tilted her head to one side, "What do you mean, aru?"

"I mean, I ask you a question, then you ask me one, and we keep going until we each hit twenty," the Brit explained. "I feel like us knowing virtually nothing about each other has hindered a lot of progress in actually getting along."

Chun Yan nodded slowly. "I can see where you came up with that conclusion. Alright, let's go for it, aru."

Secretly, she was relieved. She had been getting tired of all the awkwardness with Arthur, and wanted it to go away now that she knew that she was going to be spending more time around him. She'd called him up and invited him out walking for a reason after all, free food notwithstanding (though that would always be a motive). To Chun Yan's surprise, she was getting more and more comfortable with the boy. So long as he kept his British nose out of her most personal business, everything would go well.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Do you want to go first, or shall I?"

"You go ahead."

"Er... favorite color?"

"Red," Chun Yan answered promptly. "It is the color of honor here in China, aru."

"Interesting." Struggling with his chopsticks a bit, Arthur took a moment to take a bite of his noodles before saying, "Alright, your turn."

After a moment of thought, Chun Yan asked, "What's your family like?"

"Hm? How do you mean?"

"Well, do you have any other siblings? What are your parents like? Any cousins or other relatives? What about family friends?"

Arthur blinked. "Can that even count as one question? That's like...four, right there."

She rolled her amber eyes and elbowed him playfully. "You know what I mean, aru."

He laughed. "Yes, I know." He fell silent for a moment, thinking. "Well... I only have the one brother, Peter, and he is the most irritating little git you could ever imagine. I have a mother and a father, named Evelyn and Franklin. They're normal enough, I suppose."

"What constitutes as normal, aru?" Chun Yan asked, thinking of her own mother. Jinghua was decidedly not normal.

Arthur just shrugged. "Kind, caring, they know how to actually parent...the usual."

"Hm."

"That's the extent of my immediate family, though," he continued. "We have a few cousins here and there, and then there's..." He shuddered involuntarily. "The Americans."

Chun Yan snorted. "What?"

"They're family friends," Arthur explained. "Well, technically Matthew is Canadian, he's not so bad." He sighed heavily. "The Jones family has been very close to mine, since my father and Mr. Jones went to university together. They consist of Mr. and Mrs. Jones, and their children Alfred, Amelia, and Matthew. Alfred and Amelia, the twins, are total nightmares."

He glanced up as the Chinese girl giggled. "What?"

"Nothing," she smiled, "It just seems like you would all get along very well, aru."

"Are you out of your mind?" he exclaimed, "What makes you think—no, we bloody well do not get along!" He crossed his arms and sat back with a huff, sending his messy blonde bangs flying upwards. "You have to meet them to really understand."

"I'll pass." Chun Yan grinned and held out her hand for his noodle bowl. "Are you done, aru? I'll take them back to the vendor."

Arthur lurched to his feet. "No, I'll do it. Let me."

She raised her eyebrows. "I offered, and I made you pay. I shall do it."

"I was willing to pay," Arthur argued. "And as a gentleman I'm afraid I must insist that I be the one to do it."

There was a beat of silence, during which they exchanged scathing glares, and then the two teenagers simultaneously burst into laughter. They doubled over, clutching their sides and attracting curious stares from passerby as Chun Yan leaned on Arthur's shoulder for support.

"I can't believe we just argued about that, aru!" Chun Yan gasped. "You, you can take your own damn bowl back, aru! I'll take care of mine!"

"F-Fair enough," Arthur panted, wiping his eyes. "Bloody hell, that was ridiculous."

"For once we are in agreement."

"I suppose so."

They headed back to the street vendor and returned their bowls, then began walking aimlessly around the area. It was a large park about half a mile up from Zhōngguó Hotel, and Chun Yan told him that it was one of the nicest in the city.

"So back to what we were doing," he said, bringing the topic back to their game. "I believe it is my turn. So, tell me about your family."

She fell silent then, and Arthur looked over to see that her fists had clenched at her side.

"...Chun Yan?"

"There's not much to tell," she said softly, the words sounding forced. "I live with my younger brother and sister, Hong and Mei. Hong is fourteen and Mei is thirteen. Our mother lives at home as well."

Arthur was curious about her father, but refrained from asking, seeing as just this much information was visibly bothering the girl. What was her home life like, if she could barely give him the smallest of details?

He bit his lip. "Er... I'm sorry for asking, but... do you need any help?"

She looked up and her amber eyes blinked in surprise. "Help?"

Arthur fidgeted uncomfortably, already regretting having broached the subject. "Yes. Ah, like...at home...or anything."

He expected her to flip her lid, like she had when they had first met. He expected her to yell indignantly and tell him to get his crooked British nose out of her family's business. To his complete shock, none of that happened. Chun Yan just smiled, albeit a bit sadly, and replied, "No. I don't need help. I can take care of everything on my own."

"But you wouldn't tell me even if you couldn't," Arthur shot back before he could stop himself. _God, stop talking!_

She chuckled dryly. "No, probably not, aru."

"I wish you would."

He'd said the response so quietly Chun Yan didn't hear him at first, and it took a moment for it to register. "Ah...you shouldn't worry so much about me, aru." She folded her hands behind her back. "Alright, how about this, aru? If there is a problem I know for a fact that I cannot handle myself, I will come to you. Is that satisfactory?"

Arthur shrugged and laughed hopelessly. "I imagine it's the best I can get. You really do promise, then?"

Chun Yan grinned broadly. "Cross my heart."

"Well, that's fine then."

**A/N:**

**An anonymous reviewer has been very worried about this story, under the belief that it will be abandoned. Have no fear, my lovelies, this story will have a completion. While I may take a while to update due to my complete and utter obsession with Rise of the Guardians (and check out how well I'm doing in that fandom; can you blame me for paying it more attention?) Summer Rain WILL be finished. No worries. In fact, the end is coming up in less than ten chapters. I don't know the exact number so we'll go with that.**

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


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